KEY LIME CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

Crust

1½ cups crushed graham crackers

¼ cup sugar

4 Tbs. butter

Filling

2 lbs. cream cheese, softened

2cups sugar

6 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

⅔ cupKey lime juice

Garnish

1⅓ cups toasted coconut

Directions

Grease a 10-inch springform pan. Combine crust ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Press mixture into bottom of pan, forming the crust. Place in a pre-heated 350º oven for 8 minutes. Remove and cool.
Place cream cheese in a mixer bowl and beat until smooth. Gradually add sugar and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, into the creamy mixture. Add the vanilla and continue mixing until smooth. Stir in the Key lime juice.
Pour mixture into the springform pan, leaving about an inch of space from the top. Place in a roasting pan and fill the pan with enough water so that it comes halfway up the side of the cake pan.
Bake in preheated 400º oven for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350º and turn the roasting pan to ensure even cooking. Continue to bake for 40 minutes. Reduce the temperature again to 325º and turn the roasting pan. Bake an additional 40 minutes. Remove cake from oven and cool completely. Leave in springform pan; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Unmold, slice and garnish with toasted coconut.